From Adult Education to College Success: A Student’s Journey

My Path: ESL, GED, and Career Pathways Led Me to College

My name is Shouayeng Vang and I am an immigrant from Laos who arrived in the United States in October 2012. I was twenty-six years old and didn’t speak English. I attended several Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs which allowed me to learn English, build a solid foundation, and develop literacy, numeracy, transitions, and digital literacy skills. ABE was my key to opening the door to college to achieve a better future.

Harmony Learning Center (Maplewood) was the first school I attended in the United States. I didn’t speak English at all, so I attended ABE to learn English and hoped to earn a GED, which would help me find a job. I also took a U.S. citizenship class there and became a U.S. citizen. When I was able to read, write, and speak English, I asked questions every day to help me learn. “Could you repeat that, please? Could you explain that? Please give me an example.” These questions have helped me in life and school.

After six years at Harmony, I knew I needed more advanced math to help me go to college. I decided to transfer to Roseville Adult Learning Center, where I earned my GED in 2021. I also earned a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) credential through the International Institute of Minnesota in July 2021.

In the fall of 2021, I began my first semester at Century College to pursue my career goal of a nursing degree. Currently, I am taking only statistics because I completed all my other prerequisite courses. I received an A for every course except Chemistry that I earned a B, and now my GPA is 3.94. I became a member of Phi Theta Kappa and was a tutor for a college English writing class (Composition).

I applied to the nursing program at Inver Hills Community College and North Hennepin Community College, and I was accepted into both colleges. I chose Inver Hills, and I will start in the spring of 2026! I hope to do well in my nursing classes, as I did in my prerequisites. I am so excited and can’t wait to graduate with my associate degree as a Registered Nurse (RN) and transfer to Metro State University to pursue my Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Critical Skills I Gained in ABE

I felt ready for college! The skills I gained from ABE helped me feel confident and fit in with all the people around me, including my teachers and classmates. I would like to highlight some important parts of each skill that made me feel ready for college coursework.

Literacy Skills: I improved my reading and writing in ABE, to understand textbooks and express my ideas clearly in essays and assignments.

• Grammar: When I started college, I was confident in my writing. I practiced using correct grammar when answering a question, analyzing, and explaining concepts. I gained these from Harmony: 12 verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, sentence structure, punctuation, prepositions, conjunctions, possessives, gerunds and infinitives, and grammatical numbers such as singular and plural forms, regular and irregular verbs, and nouns. I always start a sentence with a capital letter, and it ends with a period, and the word “I” and proper nouns are always capitalized.
• Essay Writing: I believed I could attend college because I had experience writing essays, such as three-paragraph and five-paragraph essays. A technique I got from my teacher that helped me feel confident when I write: my teacher said, “Free write, just write down everything in your mind. Don’t worry about spelling; you can add some of your own language’s words to help you understand.” I knew this is the first step of POWER writing (prewriting or planning), and I used it to support me in making a decision.
• Graphic Organizers: Drawing a Venn diagram to compare and contrast ideas helped me to see the relationships. This allowed me to visualize organizing data, and it is easier for me to recall when I take an exam.
• Vocabulary words: They helped me learn the meanings of other words and figure out unfamiliar words by using context clues. I read a couple of sentences around the word I didn’t know to find clues that helped me figure out its meaning. This made me feel ready for college reading and to take a college exam.
• ReadTheory platform: It improved my reading. I recognized the main idea, supporting details, inference, and the purpose of writing.

Numeracy Skills: I strengthened my math skills in Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Statistics, Trig and Calculus, which helped me in placement tests and gave me confidence for college courses. I learned a lot of math from the Khan Academy platform. I was sure that I could go to college! I completed every level of adult math in Khan Academy, including some categories that my teacher did not require students to do, but I did it because I wanted to improve my math skills. At every adult level, I made 100% progress on every skill. I also practiced some math from fifth grade to twelfth grade and made at least 80% progress on every skill. It had shown on my teacher’s hour report that I practiced my math at Khan Academy 20 to 30 hours a week.

Speaking Skills: I practiced sharing my thoughts in ABE classes and became more comfortable presenting my ideas.

• Giving a presentation: I experienced presenting summary stories in my own words to teachers and classmates in ABE. I’ve continued developing these skills and even shared my story during a panel presentation at the Minnesota Association for Development Education Conference in September 2025.
• Fluency: I am confident in reading aloud to my teachers and classmates. I read at the correct speed and know when to pause, such as periods and commas, which allows me and listeners to understand the reading better.
• Question and interruption: I learned how to question and interrupt politely during class when I didn’t understand. This has helped me understand each concept before moving on to the next one.
• Break down words: I break down new words into syllables and look for prefixes and suffixes, which helps me identify their meaning.

Critical Thinking: I learned how to solve problems, analyze information, and make better decisions. I practiced using the 5 W and 1 H questions to guide myself through the steps of identifying, getting information, analyzing, evaluating, and making a decision. I learned that some important information includes the title and the first and last sentences of each paragraph. Analyze and determine it as a fact or opinion. If the reading contains a picture, analyze it as well. I try to connect information to my own life and experiences, then evaluate it to make better decisions.

Self-Management: I practiced balancing school, work, and family responsibilities.

• Juggling responsibilities: During the time I was in ABE, I worked two jobs, and had five children. Now, I have seven children! I always tried to schedule my family doctor’s appointments after school on Mondays and Fridays so that I could go for them. If an appointment were in the morning, my husband could help. My husband worked on the second shift, so he could take care of the children while I went to school. He always tried to help me with household chores, so I could have time to do my other things.
• Goals: I set my goals, so I had to do it! I focused on achieving my short-term goals to reach my long-term goals, and I found it helpful to break down the workload into smaller daily tasks. I was aware of my daily tasks from the most important to the least important, and the closest and the furthest deadline. I always chose to do the most important or nearest to the deadlines first. I liked to make a list and write down the deadline on my phone’s calendar. I set up my phone alarm to remind me of any appointment.
• Wellbeing: I love taking care of my health. I took a yoga class at Harmony, and I did yoga to release my stress. I was patient with myself and others and listened to my inner voice. I learned it was okay to say “no” sometimes. I kept thinking positively and did not compare myself to others; instead, I learned from those who had succeeded.
• Family: Back in the ABE days, I had five children.

Digital Literacy Skills: I became more confident using online platforms, submitting assignments, and collaborating digitally.

• Northstar Skills: I completed 12 skills of NorthStar Digital Literacy.
• Online Learning: During the COVID-19 pandemic, my ABE program switched to online learning, and we learned through the Google Classroom platform. I knew how to submit my assignments and check my grade. We also had a Zoom meeting every day and communicated through email.

ABE gave me confidence

I felt confident as a student in ABE classrooms because all the teachers respected me as an adult student who came from a different background. I was confident in learning and sharing ideas with everyone in the ABE class.  We had an event to celebrate culture, and individuals wore their traditional clothes and shared various types of food. Teachers encouraged us to watch a movie and a play at school to gain an understanding of new cultures. We went on a field trip to learn about nature, which helped students and teachers build relationships. Harmony also had a certificate to award students for their attendance, and I earned two awards: 400 hours of attendance in 2017 and 500 hours of attendance in 2018.

ABE is more than learning how to speak English. ABE helped me earn a GED, enter college, and provided me with essential academic skills, which helped me succeed in life, be an ambitious person, and believe in myself. I started as an adult learner with the English alphabet in an Adult Education program. Now I am in college, studying nursing. I am so proud of my educational journey. Thank you to the teachers, staff, and classmates who supported me along the way!